I shot this test video the other day. It was pretty windy (gusts up to 20mph) and I had a teenager with heavy thumbs operating the gimbal, that aside, the footage looks really soft to me. I was using a 24 IS lens set to infinity and a Canon 5 d. The footage has had no post done to it. I was shooting with a shutter speed of around 200th of a sec, aperture of around F16, frame rate: 60fps. I was always of the belief that your shutter speed should be double your frame rate (or half depending which way you look at it) so 30 fps would be 60 th of a sec. 60 fps would be 125th of sec etc. I read a post by Josh who mentioned he goes up to 4x the frame rate in wind, hence the reason I choose 200th. So is this caused by vibration? or is this a camera settings issue? Is it salvageable in post, or is it toast? :; Any suggestions input would be welcomed.
I see a few things immediately. you have somehow rendered your video file in interlaced mode. this is a huge mistake. nobody uses interlaced mode anymore (except may some broadcast TV systems). use 720P or 1080P presets in your NLE. when you say "focused on infinity", do you mean literally turning the focus rung to the end stop? if so, that could be an issue, too. i find that with that lens (which I use), i never turn it all the way. use the live view on the camera to figure out where "infinity" actually is on the dial. f16 on that lens is going to be a bit soft. i'd do no more than f11. if you use a ND filter on the lens (I use a .9), you can get to about 1/250 or so on a sunny day at ISO100. I don't think we're seeing vibration issues, but it could be. Sometimes a GoPro will help you diagnose these problems. I use one hung off the CS8 frame every so often just to "watch" what the gimbal is doing. The video looks out of focus. It's not salvageable in my experience. But maybe your raw .MOV file can be re-loaded and properly exported and that might help. But you'll need to address the items above. I find a surprising number of well-shot videos are torpedoed by a lack of knowledge of output formats and how to properly use their NLE's export settings.
Steve, Thanks for your input. you have somehow rendered your video file in interlaced mode. this is a huge mistake. nobody uses interlaced mode anymore (except may some broadcast TV systems). use 720P or 1080P presets in your NLE. Understood, Thanks when you say "focused on infinity", do you mean literally turning the focus rung to the end stop? if so, that could be an issue, too. i find that with that lens (which I use), i never turn it all the way. use the live view on the camera to figure out where "infinity" actually is on the dial. You are 100% correct, I just checked the focus on my 24mm and infinity is a solid 1/4 to 1/2' back from the end stop. I don't think we're seeing vibration issues, but it could be. Sometimes a GoPro will help you diagnose these problems. I use one hung off the CS8 frame every so often just to "watch" what the gimbal is doing. I have seen people doing this do you need to counter balance with weight on the opposite side of the copter or would you be Ok doing a quick test flight unbalanced? The video looks out of focus. It's not salvageable Just a test so I am not worried about it. I find a surprising number of well-shot videos are torpedoed by a lack of knowledge of output formats Guilty as charged (well mine wasn't so well shot in the first place)
Scott also turn off auto focus. After you find the focus spot use a bit of gaffer tape to tape the focus ring.
I'm always a bit unbalanced. Oh, you mean the copter? Well, it's quite easy to throw a little extra weight on one side or the other. I do so by just sliding my main LiPo batteries a little to one side or the other. That typically is good enough for this purpose.
Steve, I just did another test. I set the focus, shot 24fps, exposure was a little off so I lightened it in CS6 and applied Warp stabilization. I exported H.264, 1080p 23.976 fps. The footage was a little noisy as I expected it would be as I lightened it. It still seemed soft. Anything I am missing on the exporting front?
You may also need to add some sharpening. On the pure photography side anything coming out of the 5D or my Nikons gets sharpening applied.
Have you tried it on a tripod instead of your copter? And what about still frames? Are those sharp? And what's your bitrate on export? It should be 6-8mbps in my experience. And I'm not an adobe user, but have you compared it before and after applying warp stabilization? If you over stabilize it can cause a serious loss of resolution.
Ill bet it's the IS making it soft. You need to test with IS turned OFF first. If you have any quick vibrations in your gimbal you will see them when the IS is off. You need to fix those first THEN you can turn IS on. josh
Hey Steve, no problems with the stills, its my daily use camera. Although I have only just received the correct cable today to fire stills from the copter today (I guess I could have used an intervalometer). I did put a Gopro on it this morning and flew it. I could not see any bad vibration on the gimbal although the GoPro footage was like jello which is strange as there is no stabilization on the Gopro. It may have been the way I attached it to the boom with cable ties. The only vibration was on descent which, I am aware, has been well documented. Josh, I will try with the IS off thats a great idea. I am still not sure about what FPS to shoot, is 60 better or can you use 24 or 30fps. Do you use frame smoothing? My footage is already way better, especially now I have it in focus I will try and post an example of what I shot today later on. I have to go and do a shoot. Thanks guys
If your getting Jello on your Gopro that means you have other vibration issues to deal with. You should have smooth video from the gopro. Josh
These are the shots I did this morning http://youtu.be/h0jUOk9z6As http://youtu.be/Hxd93q0x6C8 Is the little wiggle I see in the 5D footage (roll axis) normal? its hard to see any of the similar type of movement on the gimbal from the Gopro.
Ok, I just exported those files from Quicktime and they look pretty poor but I think you can see from the Gopro footage enough to give an idea of whats going on